Overview

Fourteen-year-old Meadow MacKenna hates the British. Turned off her Irish farm and forced to book passage to America as an indentured servant, Meadow understands why the rebels wish to throw off the yoke of King George's rule. But is freedom worth the cost?

Then, forced to flee her master, Meadow disguises herself as a boy and takes up with a traveling tinker. While winding toward Boston to reunite with her father, she becomes engulfed in the conflict. She's moved by the ...

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Overview

Fourteen-year-old Meadow MacKenna hates the British. Turned off her Irish farm and forced to book passage to America as an indentured servant, Meadow understands why the rebels wish to throw off the yoke of King George's rule. But is freedom worth the cost?

Then, forced to flee her master, Meadow disguises herself as a boy and takes up with a traveling tinker. While winding toward Boston to reunite with her father, she becomes engulfed in the conflict. She's moved by the courage, pride and determination of the American patriots, but their Puritan roots run deep.

Before she can embrace the cause of her new homeland, Meadow must carefully consider a future amongst Puritan hatred for her Catholic beliefs. Would liberty apply to Irish, to Negroes, to Quakers, to Jews, to Catholics? Or would that slogan be cast aside when majority rule served the majority? Perhaps the colonists had simply invented a new kind of tyranny.

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Meet the Author

I love children's literature. I became a teacher, in part, because I never outgrew these wonderful stories. When I tried my hand at one, I was hooked! So who am I and what do I write? Let me nutshell that with three words:

Adventure - I won't read a story that doesn't transport me to a new, exciting world. I won't write one, either.

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Customer Reviews

goodbyegravity

Posted June 27, 2011

Great young adult historical fiction

The main character in The Color of Freedom is young Meadow McKenzie, a red haired lass from Ireland who is taken into indentured servitude in America. When she denies the advances of the master of her household, she has to get away to save her life. She sets off on foot, disguised as a boy called Wynn (her middle name), to make it to Boston where her father lives. In the meantime, due to the Boston Tea Party and other conflicts between the British and the Colonies, war is starting to brew around her. Everyone she meets is taking sides. Meadow herself is on the side of the colonies, as she hates the British for what they did to her family. The Color of Freedom is an excellent historical fiction novel. The writing contains really beautiful combinations of words, vivid settings and descriptions, and some of the cleverest physical descriptions of characters I've read ("lips that sagged like old lettuce" is fantastic). I literally do not have one bad word to say about this book, it was an extremely enjoyable read. Along Meadow Wynn's journey, she meets up with a cast of colorful characters that are diverse and enjoyable. For a time she travels with Salizar, a trader with no ties to either side, and later on in Boston meets up with Daniel, a horse groom who she worked beside at the Master's house, and has now joined the side of the colonies against the British. Meadow soon realizes that both sides are more complicated than just "bad" being the British and "good" being the colonists. Meadow herself is resourceful, clever, and a very strong main character who has to grow up fast but doesn't do any complaining about it, a real breath of fresh air from common young adult characters. Reading about her trek through much of her journey by herself was very enjoyable. The pacing is excellent as well, and there is always another interesting turn. The historical backdrop fits in seamlessly, and it's obvious that the author did a lot of research to make the book so accurate. Altogether I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.

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